


Judy Tries to be Supportive of Nick During a Difficult Season.

by anonymousposter357



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkward Sexual Situations, Bunny Culture and Customs, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Horny Nick Wilde, Humor, Improvised Sex Toys, Interspecies Awkwardness, Knotting, Masturbation, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Nick acts like a hormonal teenager, Not Beta Read, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Other, Supportive Judy Hopps, They don't have sex in this so set your expectations accordingly, Unusual Headcanons, Weird Biology, asexual judy hopps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 19:11:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16203872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousposter357/pseuds/anonymousposter357
Summary: Nick and Judy have been working together for several months. As Spring rolls around, she begins to notice an odd change coming over her friend. Even though it makes her a bit uncomfortable, she tries to be as supportive as she can.





	Judy Tries to be Supportive of Nick During a Difficult Season.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t ship Nick and Judy, tending to think of them more as close friends, yet I’ve still spent an unhealthy amount of time theorizing about how humanized animal sexuality would work in this setting, and how this would affect Nick and Judy. That ended up leading to this idea.
> 
> The events of my other fic that was posted on this account earlier aren't canon to this one, though they do share a few similar themes.

Judy couldn’t help but notice that something seemed off about Nick for the past few days. He hadn’t been as quick with his usual snarky quips (today he’d even gone the entire bullpen session without any disruptive interjections), and he seemed really distracted in general. If she tried to talk to him, he tended to respond in short sentences, and whenever there was a lull in the conversation his eyes would glaze over and he’d look like he was a million miles away. More worryingly, he was being especially distant with _her_. He seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact, and was averting his eyes from her as much as possible in general. As they walked across the parking lot in the crisp spring air, Judy’s heart sank.

For a moment, she was worried that she’d offended him somehow. But that didn’t really seem to fit. As they climbed into the cruiser together for today’s traffic patrol, in the enclosed space it was more clear that something was off about Nick’s _scent_. As a rabbit, she couldn’t instinctively read what the different variants of fox-scent actually _meant,_ but it was definitely different.

What could this mean? Had he come down with some kind of uncomfortable, embarrassing medical condition? Was he trying to avoid involving her in it? If so, he was doing a terrible job, because it was quite easy to tell that something was off. While she can usually see through his attempts to hide things from her anyway, in the rare event that he does, right now he was doing an uncharacteristically poor job of it.

This suggested that whatever it was, it must be pretty bad if it can destroy his poker face so completely. She was starting to get really worried for him, primarily out of personal concern for his well-being, but also out of professional concern that he was showing up for duty in an obviously impaired state.

She decides there’s nothing to do but just confront him about it point-blank. She turns her head to look at him and he’s started _panting_ , even though the air conditioner is on and it’s not very hot in the cruiser. This is getting more alarming by the minute.

“Nick, are you okay?”

“H-huh? What, uh… I’m fine! Yes, I’m perfectly alright, why do you ask?”, Nick says with a painfully exaggerated grin.

“Nick… you know I can tell, right?”

Nick looked very alarmed, and the inside of his ears started to flush bright red. “W-what? Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, you’re acting very… distant, and it’s clear that something’s wrong. You know you can tell me, don’t you? I always have your back, no matter what. You don’t need to keep any secrets from me.”

Nick looked equal parts confused and relieved, which Judy found very strange. It seemed like, for a second, Nick thought Judy already knew _what_ the problem was, and was then surprised she _didn’t_.

“I… I appreciate the sentiment, but... I really don’t think you need to know about _this_. I’ll be fine in a little while, just trust me on this.”

“But...”

“Judy, _please_...” Nick said, finally looking Judy in the eye. He had a strange expression that wasn’t just pleading, it was also…

Longing? Needy?

What?

It suddenly occurred to Judy that she remembered reading somewhere that foxes had a short, intense mating season for a few weeks in the spring.

“Oh.”

Realization slowly dawned in Judy’s eyes. But that wasn’t even the end of it. Now that she thought about it, she also remembered reading that unlike for bunnies (where marriage was merely a social custom), monogamous mating was deeply ingrained into foxes’ instincts. So when mating season rolled around, his attraction was naturally going to fixate on whoever he had the closest emotional bond to.

“OH.”

A moment passed. “...sweet cheese and crackers...” Judy slowly sighed, as she resisted a strong urge to rest her face in her palm since she still needed to keep her eyes on the road.

Nick winced and emitted a high-pitched whine of distress as it became clear that if Judy hadn’t figured it out before, she had now. He suddenly starts talking a mile a minute, “Nnnn… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I thought you’d think it was weird that you sorta turn me on and now our relationship is going to be awkward and oh god what if you don’t like me anymore please don’t think I’m a pervert I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t want to be my friend anymore and.. and…”

Nick looked to be on the verge of tears. Judy was astonished at the stream of unfiltered angst flowing out of his mouth. Seeing him anxious and stressed out made her feel the same way.

“N-Nick, you know I’d never abandon you over something stupid, right? Don’t ever forget that I’ll always be your friend.”

Nick burst into tears. “Oh thank god Judy I’m so sorry I doubted you I was just so… so…” was all he could get out before he started sobbing uncontrollably.

Judy was shocked by Nick’s volatile behavior. She’d never seen him act like this. “W-wow, you really are a hormonal mess right now. I’ve never seen you this emotional, not even back when… well, probably best not to bring up that incident now, but… um... what I mean is… well, you’re in no condition to serve right now. You need help, and fast.”

“Huh?” Nick suddenly snaps out of his sobbing fit, giving her his full attention.

“I mean, we need to find a solution to get you back to normal as fast as possible. I hate to see you like this. I’m willing to help any way I can.”

“Y-you’re willing to help me… with _this_? Oh, Judy...” Nick crooned, now with a lustful expression on his face that makes the earlier look seem quite chaste by comparison.

Judy thinks for a moment, then grimaces at the thought. She is clearly grossed out by the imagery that just appeared in her head, and wants no part of that, even though she does want to help him feel better. “Nick, I mean… I guess I just said any way I can, and you know I care about you, but… I... I don’t really think of you in _that_ way, and... I don’t think I’d be comfortable...”.

Nick snaps out of it, his expression looking lucid for once. “Okay never mind, never mind, forget it. Forget I said anything”. He begins to sigh, which turns into a fit of panting. His expression grows increasingly frustrated, until he cries out “But Judy, I don’t know how you can stand it!”

“Stand what?”

“Well, you know, you’re a rabbit… aren’t rabbits supposed to be, you know, “ready for action”, all the time? How do _you_ deal with it?”

“Huh? Oh, I got fixed a few years ago. Never been a problem since then.”

“Wait… _fixed???”_ Speechless for a moment, Nick glances down at his lap. “I… don’t think I like that solution”.

An awkward silence falls, with Judy focusing her gaze on the road and Nick focusing it on nothing in particular.

After about a minute, Nick finally breaks the silence. “You seriously had them cut out your… ?! _”._

“Nick if you had any idea what it was _like_ to be a rabbit, how _messed up_ our reproductive system is, you would understand why I don’t have time to deal with any of that. At first I thought I could cope with the urges, but it’s more than just that, and after the second false pregnancy… you know what, this isn’t about me. We’re getting sidetracked here. We’re supposed to be discussing how to deal with your, um… issue. I understand most species with short mating seasons prefer a less… permanent solution. But, I mean, is there anything keeping you from just sitting down in the restroom and… um… taking care of yourself?”

“Wait a minute, are you suggesting that I...”

“Our lunch break is coming up soon. I know a nice little cafe nearby. Its customers are almost all female, so the males’ restroom is almost always vacant. So if you can just...”

“Wait, wait, wait. _You_ are telling me to _masturbate_?”

Judy looked flustered. “Well, I mean... clearly you _really_ need it right now, and… I don’t see why...”

For once, Nicks’ expressions of horny distraction are replaced with one of utmost surprise. It almost looked like his eyes were about to bug out of his head. “I- I thought you were squeamish about this sort of thing! You could barely even question a naked witness, and now you’re talking so freely about _this?”_

“Well, I mean where I come from, it’s true we’re normally pretty shy about most things relating to, um… but, I mean, I grew up in a house with dozens of teenage rabbits and not nearly enough privacy. We didn’t really have enough bathrooms, and often a line would form at the bathroom door– ”

“Oh, _God...”_

“–and, and...”, Judy’s eyes went wide as she did a double take, “ _no,_ you’ve got it all wrong! That– that was just of bunnies wanting the bathroom for its intended use! Standing in line with your siblings waiting to do, um, _that,_ would be _unbearably_ awkward. My point being, we had to find other alternatives. But it was just generally way too crowded to find reliable privacy anywhere but the bathroom; most of the other rooms didn’t even have doors, much less locks, so– ”

“Not even the bedroom?”

“ –wha…? Oh, no, we didn’t have bedrooms; we all slept in big piles on the living room floor.

“Wait, seriously? That is… well, the fact that I actually _don’t_ feel overwhelmed by how adorable that is says a lot about how messed up I am right now.”

Judy glared at Nick, then continued, “So, _anyway_ , I was saying that by necessity we needed to get comfortable enough with the subject to be able to communicate a need for, um, _privacy._ There were really no hiding spots private enough that we could be sure we wouldn’t be interrupted, unless everyone knew _what_ was going on in there and _why_ they need to stay away. It was awkward, sure, but not nearly as distressing as what would have happened if we didn’t, because no one wants to see _that!_ So, we had to develop ways of signaling to each other. For example, some of us started carrying little “do not disturb” signs that could be hung on the door of a broom closet or wherever, and we all knew to respect them. There were also various large storage rooms in the house, as well as storage sheds all over the property, that had piles of junk to hide behind, and we had a system for making that work. Whenever anyone was entering the room, either to actually get something out of storage, or because they wanted to… use it... we would always signal by thumping our feet to warn anyone who might already be in there, and for any area we heard a response from, we would know to wait a minute before going over there. Also, a few of us even sought privacy by digging primitive holes in the back yard to hide in, and we all knew not to get too close to a hole that we didn’t remember digging ourselves. Of course Mom didn’t like that method because it made the back yard look messy, but-”

“Wha- What in the hell?!” Nick interrupted, finally recovering his voice after sitting there with his jaw agape for quite some time.

“Huh? Oh, I guess I got kinda sidetracked there, but the point is, back before I got fixed, I had plenty of experience with… the issue you’re currently having, and I don’t like seeing you suffer, and cheese and crackers nick, why does this bother you so much? I wouldn’t have expected you to have a problem with… um, that particular activity.”

“I don’t have a problem with it, it’s just… wow, I _really_ was not expecting to have this conversation with you and I’m already hormonal and irritable and very, very _horny_ right now, so I’m sorry if I seem a little flustered.”

“Well I wasn’t expecting this conversation either, but it’s going to be okay, it’s all going to be fine, we just need to calm down and try to work through this. So then, if you don’t have a problem with… doing so, why haven’t you dealt with it already?”

“Well… to be honest I’ve been meaning to, but I just... haven’t found the time.”

“WHAT?!” As unusual as this whole conversation has been, _this_ seems to surprise Judy more than anything else so far. “Seriously? How could anyone not have time to... I mean, I know we’ve been busy lately, but surely you could always find a minute alone to… uh, relieve the pressure…?”

“What in the the...” Now it was Nick’s turn to look confused, though he recovered quickly as realization dawned in his eyes.

“...Oh right, of course. I suppose you rabbits are notorious for being exceptionally… ‘quick’. But you see, it’s not that easy for foxes. I mean, have you heard of the ‘knot’?”

Judy looked uncomfortable. “I’d heard some rumors. I was… never really interested in researching to find out how true they were.”

“Well, you see, once the ‘knot’ is ‘tied’, it won’t come ‘untied’ for about 45 minutes. You can try ignoring the issue, but it leaves an embarrassing bulge in your pants the entire time so… no. It can be kinda hard to work that into your schedule.”

Judy winced. “Well, our lunch break lasts an hour. There should should still be just enough time for you to, um, untangle yourself.”

“Yeah, but then when am I going to _eat_? Hunger is pretty distracting too...”

“Well, while you’re dealing with… that, I can get you a tuna sandwich and you can eat it during our next patrol. I know it’s against protocol, but it’s got to be less distracting than trying to continue in your… current state.

“Well, there’s another issue, anyway… I mean, the way knotting works, it’s a bit different than how other species… and it applies pressure in a very specific... anyway, it’s kind of hard to simulate with your bare paws. I mean, they make special toys, but... I mean... obviously I didn’t bring...”

Judy’s discomfort with the conversation was reaching new heights. Nonetheless, she was determined to power through if it meant helping Nick with his issue. “Well, I mean… Earlier we drove past… There’s a Zorillo’s a few blocks away. I’ve never been there, but I assume they would sell… oh no, we can’t be seen there in uniform, we’d be the laughingstock of the whole deparment! At best! Nick, I mean, can’t you like… improvise something??”

For a moment, Nick wondered how he had gotten into this situation. He and Judy were very comfortable with each other and could talk about almost anything, but… he still never expected he would be conspiring with Judy to build himself a makeshift sex toy. But his bemusement at how unbelievably surreal this situation was, was quickly overwhelmed by his very urgent _need_ to find some sort of resolution as soon as possible. He began to think about what he would need…

“Well, uh… I suppose I’ll need something soft and vaguely tube shaped, and a bunch of rubber bands, and, um, some sort of lubricant. Do we actually have anything like that on hand?”

Judy tried hard to think about what in the cruiser would fit those criteria, while also trying hard _not_ to think about what this would all be assembled into. “Well, you could look in the glove compartment. Oh yeah, I think I have a little travel-sized bottle of paw lotion from one of my mom’s care packages. I put it in the cruiser that week we had to patrol Sahara Square but I ended up not using it.”

“Is the lotion unscented?”

“Yes, why?”

“Oh thank god. If Wolfard caught a whiff of some flowery scent coming from the direction of my pants, he’d never let me hear the end of it...”. He opened the glove compartment. “Yep, here it is. And there a couple rubber bands holding the spare ticket pads together, I guess I could use those… and here’s some some of the disposable rubber gloves for handling evidence. Not exactly the right shape, but I could probably work with it. I guess… I guess we’re going to do this.”

* * *

Due to Nick and Judy’s lunch break being at around 2:30 in the afternoon, well after the usual lunch rush, the cafe was fortunately found basically deserted when they got there, except for the elderly arctic fox vixen at the counter. Judy ordered a decaf latte and a salad for herself, and she also ordered a tuna sandwich packaged to go. Nick entered the bathroom, supplies hidden in his pockets.

Not much later, a loud, almost guttural groaning noise could be heard coming from the male bathroom. Judy winced, and the barista raised her eyebrow at her with a smirk.

At this Judy felt the need to try and explain this away. “Well, you see, last night he ate some, uh, undercooked shrimp, and it made him very, uh, _constipated_ , so...”

“Mating season?”

Judy closed her eyes with a wide grimace, and nodded.

* * *

As they got back to the cruiser, Nick’s fur was very disheveled, and he looked a bit exhausted, but also seemed very relaxed and a lot less stressed.

“You know, you were a bit, um… loud, in there.”

“Yeah, sorry, I thought I could control myself better, but– ”

“Do you feel better now? Are you going to be alright?”

“...Yeah. I think so.”

“So you’re no longer feeling… distracted?”

“Yeah, I think I’m mostly back to normal now.”

“Are we going to have to do this every day for the rest of the mating season?”

“No. I mean, sorry for putting you through that. I guess I can start… getting up an hour earlier, for the next couple of weeks.” Nick paused briefly. “Oh, and… thank you. For being so understanding.”

“Any time, Nick.”

**Author's Note:**

> To be perfectly honest, I think it's only the females whose sexuality is governed by mating cycles, while the males just respond to pheremones emitted by the females while in heat. But, I took some creative liberties to get this weirdass little concept of mine to work **:P**


End file.
